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Lot #1:

1840-1960s Hobby's Finest Boxing Type Card Collection (1,631 Items)

This collection represents nearly three decades of dedicated acquisition and focus and is arguably the finest boxing type collection in the hobby! Collection is divided into various areas of concentration: cards, memorabilia and specific fighters.
The categories are broken down as follows and are accompanied by a detailed spread sheet:

The card collection is an international type card collection spanning the dawn of boxing card issuance to the present. Wherever possible the type cards represented depict hall of fame members, with special focus on Jim Jeffries, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey and Muhammad Ali.

Nineteenth Century cards are represented by type from the N card section of the American Card Catalog, as well as by various cabinet cards and CDVs. Highlights of the 19th Century material are:

• Pre-1869 Charles D. Fredricks Specialite CDV of John C. Heenan, acknowledged as the first commercially issued boxing card
• A series of copper plate etchings from the 1840 edition of Boxiana depicting numerous HOF members from the dawn of the sport
• N28 Allen & Ginter John L. Sullivan
• N310 Mayo Joe Choynski high grade examples of both types and an uncut strip of six cards, plus additional cards
• N266 Red Cross regular issue and a ‘proof’ card that is believed to be a cut from a still-uncatalogued advertising piece.
• N566 Newsboy cabinet card of Bob Fitszimmons with the rare Campbell mount and the very rare Boston Globe advertising back
• N269 Lorillard cards of famed gangsters Bill Poole and John Morrissey from “The Gangs of New York”, John L. Sullivan, and Yankee Sullivan

20th Century American cards are represented by examples from most T, E, R, W and other American Card Catalog designations, as well as numerous cards that do not appear in the ACC. Nearly all are HOFers. Some highlights:

• E125 American Caramel Jim Jeffries, one of a few known examples
• E77 Jack Johnson
• E78 Sammy Berger and Jim Jeffries
• E-Unc. both variations of the Jeffries cards cut from the advertising sheet issued by Philadelphia Caramel
• The extremely short printed T220 silver border Mike Donovan card, with only a few known examples.
• Jack Johnson: E77, E-Unc., T218, T227
• Rare brand variations: T218 Tolstoi, T219 Red Cross, T229 Pet and Kopec
• A nearly complete run of H817 Adam Hats premiums
• The largest run ever assembled of Slidewell Bows/Slim Jim Bows premiums
• 1923 Wesley Andrews souvenir cards from the Dempsey training camp, SGC graded 80 ex-mt
• Large run of Benny Leonard W529 types including all known variants
• Sizable run of 1946- Kid Herman heavyweights including rare short prints issued near the end of the run
• Substantial collection of boxing premiums including a comprehensive run of large Brown & Bigelow Joe Louis display pieces
• Complete run of Brown’s cards including the rookie cards of Mayweather, Holyfield, Bowe, Hopkins and dozens of other HOFers, some signed.

The international component of the type card collection includes several hundred different sets spanning the globe. Particular emphasis is paid to Latin American issues. The run of Argentinean and Venezuelan type cards stretches back to the 1920s and is mostly comprised of HOF members whenever possible. Highlights of the international type card collection:

• 1931 Bigott, Mazziotta and Doble Aguila issues from Venezuela consisting almost entirely of HOFers
• Large type run of Argentinean ‘chapitas’
• Huge runs of British, French, German, Spanish and Italian cards
• Nice run of C and V cards from Canada including rarities like V153 Robertson Candy
• 1930 Caramelos La Estrella Habana Partial Set (87/100) w/Original Album Plus Extras
• Large collection of Asian Muhammad Ali cards from the 1970s including sizable runs of ‘menko’ style cards from Malaysia and TEKS cards from the Philippines.
• Several specimens from the 1938 NX5 American Sweets issue, including the only known Joe Louis and the only numerically graded card from the set (Benny Leonard)
• Panini cards including accepted rookie cards of Foreman, Duran, Tyson, Chavez, etc.

Memorabilia highlights include strong runs of materials for Joe Louis, Jim Jeffries, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, and Benny Leonard. The Louis collection in particular encompasses numerous career contemporary advertising and related items that are seldom found, as well as many photographs and snapshots. Other highlights:

• Spectacular large format original photos of Jeffries
• Bain and Heath stamped photographs
• Advertising pieces from the 1930s for various products endorsed by Louis
• Many Marciano endorsements and testimonial pieces
• Strong runs of Type I photos of HOFers including Tunney, Leonard, Louis and Dempsey
• A large collection of fighter and promoter issued publicity photos including career contemporary photos of many HOFers and champions
• Matchbook covers from various boxers’ restaurants and businesses
• Tickets, Publications, tokens and medals, etc.
• Dozens of autographed items and cards including Dempsey, Louis, Leonard, Baer, Foreman, Ali, etc.